Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended all housing construction in contested areas of east Jerusalem and the West Bank as a diplomatic nod at President Obama’s upcoming visit.

Mr. Netanyahu said the ban on the issuance of housing permits would last the full month, in an Agence France-Presse report. Mr. Obama is set to visit Israel, for the first time in either of his terms, on March 20.

The concession — to avoid “embarrassing” leaders, Mr. Netanyahu said in the Israeli newspaper, Maariv — is a turnaround from 2010, when Vice President Joseph R. Biden visited. Then, Israel announced its intent to build 1,600 homes in an east Jerusalem section contested by Palestinians — and U.S. officials were reportedly angered by the timing of the announcement.

“In telephone conversations, which Netanyahu held with officials, it was emphasized that there was no freeze, but rather a suspension whose purpose is not to embarrass the political establishment during the president’s visit,” Maariv reported.